My Organic Life: How a Pioneering Chef Helped Shape the Way We Eat Today by Nora Pouillon with Laura Fraser

Posted May 5th, 2015 by Recommended Reads

Panera Bread recently announced that it plans to remove dozens of artificial ingredients used in its popular menu items. Like Panera, many restaurants and food producers and distributers have been replacing their highly processed food products with organic and natural products due to strong and constant pressure from consumers who are educating themselves about how their food is grown and raised and who are demanding food that is pure, wholesome, and healthier. Although this may seem to be a relatively new phenomenon, many individuals have been quietly but persistently advocating for this type of “food revolution” for decades. One such person is Nora Pouillon, who, in 1999, founded the first certified organic restaurant in the United States and recounts her culinary journey in her new book My Organic Life: How a Pioneering Chef Helped Shape the Way We Eat Today. Pouillon began her mission in the 1960s when she and her husband moved from their native home in Europe to Washington, D.C. Used to farm-fresh food, she was appalled to encounter the typical American diet: foods laden with chemicals to improve their taste and shelf life. Since 1979, when Pouillon opened her first restaurant to much acclaim in the nation’s capital, she has continued to work hard to redefine the way Americans eat and, in the process, help preserve the Earth’s ecosystem. Even now, at 70, this inspirational and influential woman serves on the boards of numerous food and environmentally related organizations, working tirelessly to fulfill her goal to make fresh, healthy, and sustainable food accessible to everyone.